Saturday yields 22 overdoses in Hamilton County

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Cincinnati Police Sgt. Ken Hall checks a Ford Fusion in the back parking lot of an apartment in Epworth in Westwood. The body inside the car had been there for several hours.(Photo: The Enquirer/ Liz Dufour)Buy Photo

A surge in suspected overdoses in Hamilton County on Saturday prompted public health officials to issue an alert to the community.

Twenty-two suspected overdose cases were logged at Hamilton County hospitals on Saturday alone, health department records show. Fire and police responded to an estimated 18 overdose calls to 911 during the same 24-hour period.

The alert came on the heels of a surge earlier in the week. On Wednesday, first responders were called to 19 suspected overdoses in Hamilton County. Emergency rooms counted 14 suspected overdoses.

Area public health partners and the Hamilton County Heroin Coalition issue the alerts to first responders, healthcare providers, drug users and their families when there's an unusually high number of overdoses in the area.

The alert advises drug users to avoid using street drugs when they are alone. It encourages people to carry naloxone, the antidote for opioid and heroin overdose, and to be ready to use multiple doses if necessary. Often, stronger mixes of drugs are resistant to naloxone, and multiple doses must be administered to turn around the overdoses.

The alert also reminds public health and safety forces to use personal protective equipment, such as gloves and masks, when encountering someone who appears to have overdosed or someone who has street drugs.

The heroin coalition alert states that it's unclear what drove the recent overdose surge, but adds that similar overdose outbreaks have occurred when there's a change in the composition of street drugs, such as an addition of synthetic opiates, including fentanyl and carfentanil.

The Hamilton County coroner was not immediately available to comment on whether or how many overdoses ended in death.

Dr. Lakshmi Sammarco has periodically issued warnings to the public about highly potent street drugs, including cocaine mixed with fentanyl. The latest surge is just one of several in recent months that have hit the region.